Anna Naupa commenced her PhD at the School of Culture, History and Language (CHL) in 2022. Her PhD project is supervised by Chris Ballard of the ECDI/ANU. As a ni-Vanuatu woman who has professionally worked across culture, history and diplomatic fields, both internationally and locally with her paternal island community of Erromango in southern Vanuatu, Anna’s research focuses on understanding how indigenous cultural systems and structures facilitate peaceful inter-community and trans-boundary relationships, and mediate conflict, at a range of scales from community to island, and nation to neighbour, in Vanuatu. By privileging local voices in indigenous traditions of diplomacy in Vanuatu, Anna hopes to broaden academic understanding of the evolution and diversity in concepts of indigenous Melanesian diplomacies.
Anna holds a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University (2014) and an MA in Geography from the University of Hawai’i, Manoa (2004). Her MA thesis on plural land tenure systems in Vanuatu contributed to national land law reforms, enhancing safeguards for customary governance systems. She also holds a BA (Hons.) in Geography and Anthropology from the University of the Hawai’i, Hilo (2001).
Evolution of Cultural Diversity 